Another Life
by mylovemiroku
Summary: “Just please, promise me that if anything happens to us, you’ll come back to me so I can be this happy in another life.” Summary on Profile page.
1. Things Never Change

**Another Life**

**Things Never Change **

Beep, beep, beep went the sound of a very annoying alarm clock. 'Ugh' she mentally groaned. 'This is going to be like every other day.'

Sango got up out of bed after hitting snooze three times. Luckily, she was a good little girl and set her alarm extra early so she could pull something off like that. She actually was up and dressed an hour before school everyday. Her grades were "perfect" by her friend Kagome's standards, but by Sango's, she could use improvement in math. 'I really should get a tutor for that class' she thought as she cooked breakfast for herself and for her younger brother Kohaku. Her parents both worked for a law firm and had to go to work at the crack of dawn.

"Kohaku!" she called from the kitchen, "Breakfast is ready!"

"I'll be down in a minute sis!" he yelled back.

Like his sister, Kohaku was also a good little boy, and woke up early enough so by the time Sango called him, he was awake and alert. As he raced down the stairs, he could smell bacon and eggs- his favorite.

"Thanks sis," He greeted as he walked into the kitchen.

"You're welcome. Now hurry up, you know we have to meet Kagome and Souta," She trailed off as she strolled into her room to get her school bag.

"I know, I know," He groaned. "But I don't know why you always hurry me, they're never ready when we get there!" he yelled back, loud enough for her to hear.

'Yeah, I guess things don't change much around here' she silently laughed to herself.

"Well, you never know. Things may be different today," She told him in a cheery tone as she re-entered the kitchen and patted him on the shoulder.

* * *

As they neared Kagome's house, Kohaku sped up to a full on sprint so he could knock on the door first. Kagome lived about three blocks from Sango's house, and about two more blocks was the bus stop for school.

"Kohaku!" Sango shouted as she ran after him.

Too late, Mrs. Higurashi greeted him and he ran into their house.

"I'm so sorry Mrs. Higurashi," Sango apologized as she bowed to her, out of breath from running.

"Now Sango, I think we've known you long enough to where you and Kohaku can make yourselves at home here," She reassured her, while smiling in that motherly way.

"Thank you. Is Kagome up yet?" Sango asked.

"Well, I'm not sure. I've tried waking her up about five times now, but you know her, always waiting until the last second. I think she stayed up late to finish something for school. Why don't you go and get her for breakfast," Mrs. Higurashi suggested.

Sango nodded and walked up the stairs. She creaked open Kagome's door to find a sleeping girl about to fall off of her bed. Sango laughed and decided to play a mean trick on her best friend.

"KAGOME! GET UP!" she yelled at the top of her lungs.

Kagome's eyes flew open and she jumped at the sudden loudness, making her fall off of the bed and into a confused pile of blankets. Sango started laughing hysterically and almost fell on the floor as well.

"Good Morning…" Kagome yawned groggily.

"C'mon, breakfast is ready and you still aren't dressed," Sango finally said after her little laughing fit.

Sango walked over to Kagome's closet and pulled out their school uniform: white long sleeve with green on the cuffs, collar and a red bow, and a matching, green, pleated skirt.

"Hurry up! Or we'll be almost late as usual!" Sango bellowed, hurrying the still drowsy Kagome.

Getting tired of her sleep interruptions, Kagome gave up and decided to get ready for school. As the girls walked down the stairs into the kitchen, Sango spotted Kohaku scarfing down a plate full of pancakes –his other favorite.

"Kohaku! You pig! You already ate breakfast!" Sango exclaimed.

"Now Sango, he is a growing boy. Both of them are," Ms. Higurashi beamed, both at Souta and Kohaku.

"Thanks Ms. H," responded Kohaku, while he and Souta left the table and out the door to school.

"Bye everyone!" were their last words as the door slammed.

"We should get going too, Sango, I'll just grab a breakfast bar," Kagome sighed, as she hurried her friend out of the door.

* * *

At the bus stop, Sango and Kagome spotted their other friends: Ayumi, Eri, and Yuka.

"Hey girlies!" Ayumi greeted, waving to them both.

"Ready for school?" Eri asked.

"Of course," Sango assured, as she boarded the bus.

"I hope so," Kagome muttered, with a look of desperation in her eyes.

She had indeed stayed up late to finish something for school. An English essay of all the things. Like any other day, Kagome napped on the bus ride to school while Ayumi, Eri, Yuka, and Sango gossiped...

"So what did you tell him Yuka?" Eri asked, interested.

"I told him… I might call him," Yuka said with excitement.

All of the girls screamed girly screams of joy, which woke up Kagome.

"What?" Kagome questioned, while her eyelids were half open.

"Yuka has a boyfriend!" Ayumi told Kagome.

"Really? Who is it?" Kagome inquired, now alert as ever.

"He's not my boyfriend! But he is so persistent, you can't help but love his charm," Yuka retorted.

"It's Hojo from Class B," Sango clarified.

"Aww... You guys make a cute couple," Kagome decided.

"We're not together! I'll let you guys tease me after our first date," Yuka decided to give in to her friends.

"Yay!" they all yelled in unison.

"Anyway, we're not as cute as you and Inuyasha," Yuka informed, switching the conversation over to Kagome's love life.

"Hey! Keep your voices down! We're just friends!" Kagome whispered to them, trying to hush them up.

"Yuka's right Kagome, you should ask him out already. I'm tired of having you two deny it any longer," Sango retorted.

"Sango! He told you that he likes me?" Kagome shrieked.

The whole bus turned around to stare at her. Kagome sunk lower into her seat as a deep, red blush spread across her face. When everyone looked away and went back to their conversations, the five friends burst into laughter again. They're fit was cut short as the bus came to a stop. They were stopped at a red light and right next to them was a black stretch limo. All of the girls gawked at it until the bus started to move again.

"Wow, there must be a star in town," Eri finally assumed, breaking the silence.

"In Tokyo? No one ever comes to this boring place," Ayumi corrected.

'Yeah, she's right' Sango agreed.

* * *

Not another word was said, until the bus pulled up to the school. Deciding to pull her friends out of the morning depressing thoughts, Sango put her arms around Kagome's and Ayumi's necks as they walked up the school's steps and said "Hey, don't look so glum. We have history today and you know what that means…" Sango said deviously.

Ayumi, Eri, Yuka, and Sango all shouted "Cute Guys!" while Kagome yelled, just as happily, "Sleep!"

The gang all stared at Kagome until she got that blush again, then they all laughed again. 'Even if nothing changes around here, I'm glad I still have all this fun with my friends' Sango thought optimistically.

* * *

It was their second class of the day, history, which was right after lunch and just as planned, Kagome slept, Sango took notes while expertly checking out all of the cute guys that were conveniently sitting right by her, and Ayumi, Eri and Yuka did the same. It was no coincident that all of the cute guys sat near Sango, she was voted the prettiest girl in the junior class by all of the guys last year. Or so, "The List" said. "The List" was an actual list that had girls' names on it and how they were categorized. Sango being prettiest, Kagome having the best personality, Ayumi the best chest (at times she was proud of it and also extremely embarrassed of it), Eri the most experienced (yes that kind of experience), and Yuka the shyest. Other girls were on the list as well, including Ayame for best girl athlete, Kagura for best kisser, Koharu for best one night stand and Kikyo for biggest slut. As their reputations allowed, they, the three "K" girls, were the "mean girls" of the school and were not respected. They always were constantly belittling other girls, especially our friendly gang of five. The mean girls had recently started beating up the school goth, Kanna, who happened to be Kagura's little sister.

'How pathetic' Sango thought. She always was the one to defend Kanna, and she invited her to eat lunch with her and Kagome frequently. Kanna always kindly denied and eventually found friends of her own. Sango smiled at the thought. She was glad to always help a person in need. Even though she had her pretty face, which made her look shy, she was probably the most outgoing of her group of friends. She tended to be shy around adults, giving her the 'good girl' reputation. Guys knew that they couldn't just ask her out like any other girl, she was very hard to approach since she was so independent, but hard to resist because of her beauty. The five friends well known for their "List" factors and for the awesome parties they threw during school breaks. 'I hope we have one of those parties soon' Sango thought.

Someone entering the class rather lately, cutting her daydreaming short. All of the class seemed to snap out of whatever trance they were in, including Kagome and her sleeping. The teacher, used to all of the class just ignoring him, was confused by all of the sudden attention towards the door. He then looked himself and saw a young teenage boy who looked very distinguished in his uniform and glasses. He carried a laptop with him as well. Suddenly all of the class, especially the girls were chatting like crazy and giggling their girlie laughs. The young man just smirked and closed his eyes while marching over to the teacher. Handing him a note and apologizing for interrupting his class, the new boy smiled a very charming smile and had somehow convinced the teacher to let him stay. He looked around the class for an empty seat and spotted one just off to the side, next to the most beautiful girl in the school. He smiled again and made his way to the desolate seat. The moment he sat down, all of the girls envied Sango, along with every boy envying him. She blushed a slight pink and covered her hand with her face before turning toward the teacher's lecture once more. The new boy had very deep brown hair, darker than Sango's, but not so dark that it was black like Kagome's. Sango saw through his rectangular glasses that he had even deeper blue eyes that looked like a raging storm. Sango was intrigued at that last thought, his eyes reminded her of deep despair and sorrow, but also complete mystery. His charming smile only made her melt back into complete happiness. He noticed her staring at him from the side and smirked while he opened his laptop.

'She's beautiful' he thought, chuckling to himself. It was hard enough on him to "pretend" as if he wasn't interested in her. He knew class time could not be interrupted with personal desires and never failed to show his weaknesses. Eventually, Sango realized that she was gaping at him and snapped back to reality. The rest of history class was useless though; she couldn't help but daydream about him.

* * *

When the bell rang, everyone in the halls was talking about the new boy. Apparently he came from a rich family in Osaka and was here on a business trip with his family. His father was the owner of a chain of law firms in Japan and was looking to expand in the area. No one knew his name yet, but Sango made it a point to find out before anyone else.

Just as she was marching over to see him, Kikyo stepped in her way and almost beat her to it. Almost, meaning Kikyo was stopped by an insult that Kagome had made: "Yo Kikyo! I didn't think the rumors were true, but I guess someone like you can't get _enough_ of the guys!"

Kikyo changed directions toward Kagome, and as Sango sped by, she saw Kagome wink from the corner of her eye and her mouth these words: "Go get 'em."

Sango smirked at her friend's quick thinking. 'Thanks Kagome, I owe you one' Sango thought.

Now on to her real objective. He was all alone and looking for his next class apparently. All of the other girls were too afraid to go up to him and were just ogling him from afar. After ages of walking, she finally reached him, but his back was turned to her. She lightly tapped him on the shoulder and stepped back, noticing that she was uncomfortably close to him. She smiled as he turned around and she took her hand out for him to shake. He had a look of confusion on his face at first but it turned into his charming grin as he took her hand and brought it to his face. Sango was surprised and then blushed a very deep crimson when he kissed her knuckles as if she were royalty.

"Hi, I'm Sango," She introduced.

"I'm very pleased to meet you my dear Sango. My name is Miroku," He answered, with all of his male charm.

She giggled a little at his "good boy" act and covered her face with the hand he had kissed. She regained her composure and asked him: "Do you need help finding your next class? I noticed you were new and since I've been here for three years, I pretty much know where everything is at."

"As a matter of fact, I could use some help," He replied. "Please tell me why a beautiful girl like you doesn't have a boyfriend, who would've been pounding me about now," He inquired, looking around suddenly as if 'her boyfriend' would come out of nowhere and pounce him.

She giggled at the pickup line. 'Oh My Gosh, like I've never heard that one before' she thought.

"You're funny. I actually know the answer to that, but I'll let you find that out for yourself. What about your class, Romeo?" she said with a sarcastic tone in her voice, pointing back to his schedule on the paper he was holding.

He laughed while he put a hand to the back of his head.

"Well, I'm looking for room 7G, I think it is Chemistry," He gave in, giving up on his pick up lines.

"You're in luck. I have that very class next. I'll give you the pleasure of walking with me there," She said with coy.

She turned around giggling into her hand. He looked at her very surprised, but brought back out his charming smile and caught up with her. 'She's different than most of the girls I've known' he thought. She walked triumphantly to class, her nose a bit in the air, knowing that everyone was staring at her bravery and luck.

* * *

In class, she let him sit next to her. Kagome nudged her on her way to the desk behind Sango. Once she sat she whispered into Sango's ear: "You owe me big time."

"I know," Sango whispered back, without turning around. The class went quiet and stood next to their chairs as the teacher, Ms. Yomagida, entered the classroom. She wore a lab coat, slacks, flat, but dressy shoes, and a messy, disheveled bun in her hair with chopsticks and brown rectangular glasses just atop her big nose.

"Good afternoon class! You may sit down," She greeted, as she did every day.

The class greeted her altogether, as they usually did, and bowed before they sat in their seats. Miroku took this time to tell the teacher that he was new, since she had not started class quite yet. Once everything was sorted out, all of the rest of the class got out their notebooks for that class.

"Today, we are starting a new Lab so I need you to get with your lab partners," She informed.

Sango immediately raised her hand and mentioned to the teacher that her lab partner, Kagura, was absent yet again from class. 'Probably ditching' thought Sango, but she was glad of it today, seeing as she knew who her replacement would be.

"Well, I guess you will be escorting our new student today then," She told Sango. Now addressing the rest of the class, she gave directions: "Today's lab requires different chemicals so use goggles and gloves at all times and Be Careful!" emphasizing the last words.

Once everyone was all set up at each of their lab tables, the talking, note taking, and chemical mixing began. The teacher ran through each step with the students so no one could accidentally mix unstable chemicals. By the end, most students turned out pretty close to what it was supposed to be: Dihydrogen Monoxide, most commonly known as water.

"Now class, your grades will be determined on how close your substance relates to water. That will be judged on how it looks, smells, and its chemical composition, of course," Ms. Yomagida reminded.

Kagome and her lab partner groaned at this last part. Her partner was a handsome, young boy who had long, white hair and dog-ears on his head. He was one of the few demons they had in their school, well, half demons. His name was Inuyasha. Kagome had had a crush on him ever since the sixth grade, which was six years. They both were, unfortunately, terrible at Chemistry. Their substance was a greenish color and looked nothing clear at all. At least other students' substance was transparent. The only people who managed to get the substance to be crystal clear were Sango and Miroku.

As Ms. Yomagida was trying to figure out what exactly went wrong with Kagome and Inuyasha's last attempts at passing, Miroku turned to Sango half chuckling and said: "It looks like Kagome and Inuyasha don't have much 'Chemistry' together."

Sango laughed only a little at his pun attempts and responded: "I don't know, I think Kagome would like to think otherwise," smirking at his hidden message.

"Well, at least we have good 'Chemistry', huh?" Miroku replied, pointing and looking towards his and Sango's work of art.

"Yeah, I guess you could say that," She agreed, wondering if he intended any message other than the obvious.

* * *

After class, and basically after school, (since there were three classes a day, each two hours long, including lunch) Sango waited for Kagome to come out. Miroku decided to wait as well, since he had also made friends with Inuyasha sometime before he met Sango. Apparently Inuyasha's father worked with his father and they had met at a business party. Kagome had come out soon after with her head down and Inuyasha followed with a similar look.

"Kagome what's wrong?" Sango questioned, with concern in her voice.

Kagome looked up and sighed: "I'm not going to pass this class unless I do an extra credit project. Me and Inuyasha both have to show that we are capable of doing something together and not mess up," Inuyasha simply mumbled "Feh."

"Well, what do you have to do?" asked Sango.

"We have to come in after school in about two weeks and do a really big lab that incorporates most of what we've learned over the past four months. Sango I don't know if I'll be able to pass that either!" Kagome exclaimed, sounding desperate at the end.

"It'll be okay, don't worry so much all right? I know you've been really stressed lately and it's starting to take its toll. Just calm down, I wouldn't be your BFF if I didn't help you study and ace that test, right?" Sango assured, encouragingly and wrapped her arm around Kagome's neck in a "palsy" kind of way.

This seemed to ironically "take the weight off of Kagome's shoulders" as she skipped ahead and yelled back: "Thanks Sango, I just remembered I had to help my Mom back at home. See ya!"

She turned the corner in a rush and came back about two seconds later and grabbed Inuyasha and dragged him along with her as he shouted at her: "What the heck are you doing? I don't need to help your Mom! I don't even know her that much! Hey Kagome, what's going on?" His words trailed off as they disappeared out of sight.

Sango managed to catch another one of Kagome's winks as she left. After Sango and Miroku got off their confused looks, Sango put her hand to her face and wiped it as if she were mentally sighing.

"What was that about?" Miroku asked, looking at Sango, still confused obviously.

"She's just odd sometimes," Sango explained. "Well… make that most of the time, but she's such a great friend to have, despite her unusual antics," she clarified.

Miroku chuckled and started walking with Sango out of school.

* * *

They had been walking for a while now in somewhat of an awkward silence.

"So… where do you live?" Sango finally asked.

"Well, right now I'm staying in a hotel with my mother and father. It's not too far away from their company," He replied.

"Oh, well I know this city as well as I know the school. I mean, I've lived here all of my life and all. What's the hotel called?" she asked.

"It's called the Kaze no Kizu, I think," He answered, putting his thumb and index finger on his chin and looking toward the sky.

"Oh really! I know where that's at. I live about four blocks from it," She answered. 'That place is pretty expensive, his parents must be raking it in' she concluded.

"Oh well, then this makes things easier," He said.

She looked at him puzzled and then blushed when he grabbed her hand like in the hall.

"I was going to ask you to have dinner with me at the hotel tonight," He proposed.

"Wow, I mean, I'm really flattered Miroku, but how about we make it a late afternoon coffee. That's more my style," She compromised, not wanting to make him think she wasn't interested.

"Oh, well… I guess we could do that instead," He agreed, sounding a little disappointed as he let go of her hand and put his hand at the back of his head.

'Great Sango! Make up an excuse or something. You made him feel bad!' she mentally yelled to herself.

"Well… it's just I have dinner with my family, especially since we don't get to spend time with each other a lot. But I'd be glad to go out with you," She reassured.

His face brightened at her comment. 'It wasn't all a lie' she told herself. Kohaku and her didn't get to see their mother and father a lot, but they didn't always eat dinner together. She wasn't ready to rush into fancy dinners and late nights just yet, especially since she barely knew this guy, except for that he was loaded. She found that moving too fast in a relationship was just asking for trouble.

"Great then, I'll pick you up around 4:30?" he recommended as they pulled up to her house.

"Yeah, sounds great," She confirmed. She walked up the pathway to her door and said a final farewell before she entered her house: "See you soon!"

* * *

She closed the door gently, so if he were still there, he wouldn't think that this was her first "date", which it was. After that, she sighed and raced up the stairs to her room. She plopped her backpack at the side of her bed and fell stomach side down onto her bed. Her phone was conveniently located right by her face and she speed dialed Kagome's house.

Kagome answered, "Sango! I've been waiting for your call for like, 30 minutes!" she practically yelled.

"Sorry… wait, how'd you know it was me? Did you get caller ID?" Sango asked.

"No, I've just been guarding the phone and yelling that to every person who has called in the past 30 minutes. You wouldn't believe some peoples reactions…" Kagome muttered, drifting off into her memories.

Sango laughed heartily. "Kagome, you're so weird. I can't believe you! Well, actually, I can… It must be contagious!" They both laughed at that and Sango proceeded to tell Kagome everything…

"So Miss Prettiest in the Whole School has finally found herself a man?" Kagome finally assumed, after her many "Oh My Gosh!" and "Really?"s.

"I hope so," Sango sighed. "I mean, he seems like the real deal. Whereas, all of the other guys we know are just looking for a quick fix. I guess I'll find out later. Speaking of which, can you come by and help me pick out something to wear? I'm a little nervous."

"Of course! I'll be right over!" Kagome yelled.

"Thanks Kagome… Kagome?" The phone was silent. ding-dong 'Wow, that was fast. I don't know who's more excited, me or her.' She thought, while getting up to get the door.

* * *

A record ten minutes later, Kagome had completely emptied Sango's closet, trying to find the perfect outfit for her.

"Okay, it looks like you have nothing sexy in here but this…" Kagome said, holding up a tight red tube top, Gucci dress in her hands.

"Oh My Gosh! I thought I got rid of that!" Sango yelled, while trying to grab it from Kagome's hands.

"Ah, ah, ah… you soooo have to wear this," Kagome encouraged, teasingly.

"Kagome, this is an afternoon coffee, not some late night club rendezvous! Gimme that!" Sango snapped, as she snatched it out of Kagome's hand and stuck it in the bottom of her underwear drawer.

Sighing, Sango grabbed a white, low v-neck with long sleeves and a brown Mudd™ skirt. She also rummaged through her shoes and pick out some brown leather boots that went to her knees.

"How's this?" Sango asked as she held up her creation to Kagome.

"Wow. That looks great! And it's so… you!" Kagome said, as if she were shocked.

"That's what I was looking for," Sango explained. She had a puzzling look on her face, wondering if her friend had really been shocked. 'Probably' she concluded, as she shrugged it off.

"I still think you should find an occasion to wear that red one, though. Actually… I was wondering… how did you become the owner of that dress?" Kagome asked.

"Ugh. It's a weird story, but I know those are your favorite kind to listen to," Sango started. "You see… well… Kagome, do I have to? It's so embarrassing!"

"Yes! Now you have me wondering too much about it. Go on," Kagome pressured.

"Fine," Sango sighed. "It's not something I'm proud of, but a couple of months ago I was in the store on 54th street, you know, the one with all of the fancy dresses? Well anyway, I was in there with my mother of all people. She was trying on dresses for a wedding she was going to for one of her co-workers and I just decided to try on dresses for fun. Don't get me wrong. I didn't pick _that_ dress out. It was already in the dressing room I was in, like someone left it there for the help to pick up later. Since it was already there, I decided to be spontaneous and try it on. It fit perfectly, but I knew my mom would never get it for me. So I set it down and left with my mom to go home. As we were leaving, I remembered that I left my jacket in the dressing room, so I ran back to get it in a rush. As I left the store for the second time, someone simultaneously was walking out next to me. The alarm went off and I got scared, but then the person next to me started to full on sprint out of the store. I guess they had shop lifted something and security was on them in like 5 seconds. It was rather funny to see, but I just walked to the car as if I saw nothing. When I got in my room at home, I set my jacket down and noticed something red. It was the dress! I, Sango, had actually _stolen_ something! I was so worried about security finding out, so I haven't been to that store since."

Kagome just stood there staring at her in shock, until Sango commenced to waving her hands and snapping her fingers in front of Kagome's face.

"Oh… sorry, I just… I can't believe you shop lifted!" Kagome yelled.

"Shhh! I told you I'm not proud of it! I feel so ashamed. You don't think I should have returned it do you?" Sango asked, looking desperate.

"Well, I guess it's too late now. But don't worry. Just look at it as a gift. Sometimes I believe that things happen for a reason. Maybe you'll find a use for it sometime," Kagome assured.

"I guess I was pretty lucky. I've looked it over and it didn't even have one of those sensor tag thingies that squirt ink at you," Sango said.

"Wow. That is pretty lucky," Kagome agreed, smiling. "Oh My Gosh! It's 4:25 already! You're still not dressed! Hurry up, ya shop lifter," Kagome said, emphasizing the last part.

"Don't tell anyone! Please promise me!" Sango yelled, as she ran to the bathroom to change.

"I'll promise only if you promise to give me full details about your date!" Kagome yelled back.

When Sango came back, she looked as gorgeous as ever.

"Sango! You look great. Let's see if Miroku can resist that," Kagome commented.

"Kagome! Do I really look that good?" Sango asked, as she turned around in front of her mirror.

"Of course! Now hurry up so I can do your make-up," Kagome ordered.

"Not too much, though. I want to look natural," Sango clarified.

"I know, I know. Too much will cover up your true beauty," Kagome said.

ding dong

"Oh My Gosh! He's here! I'll just have to take some with me and put some lip gloss on," Sango cried out, trying to shove stuff in her purse.

"Do you really need extra pair of socks in your purse Sango?" Kagome asked, as if Sango were insane.

"Shut Up! You never know," Sango yelled back, as she rushed down the stairs. "Don't leave my house until after I leave," Sango reminded her, as she reached the door.

Kagome ducked behind Sango's bedroom door and peeked out of the crack she left open. She wanted to see Miroku's reaction to her semi-creation. Although Sango had picked out everything she had on.

"Wow, Sango. You look gorgeous!" Miroku said, stunned.

"Oh stop you," Sango said, obviously flattered, as she got a nice pink blush over her face and waved her hand at Miroku like a girly-girl.

"Shall we go then?" Miroku asked, as he put out his arm for her to grab.

"Yeah. I know this great coffee place on Sunset Blvd. It's not too far away from our school," Sango answered, taking his arm.

Miroku was wearing nice black pants with a blue dress shirt. Sango thought that it matched his eyes almost perfectly. 'Although his eyes are much more mesmerizing' she corrected herself, as she stared into them. They seemed to suck her into another world and hold on. They captivated her.

His car was a black convertible mustang, year 1967.

"Wow! Your car is awesome! When did you get it?" she asked him.

"It was my 16th birthday present. I requested the specific year because my grandfather had one just like it when he was young. My father was lucky to find it in good condition too," He replied.

He opened the door for her like a gentleman and proceeded to their destination. 'The car always gets 'em' he thought to himself, as he inwardly smirked and started the car.

* * *

The car pulled up to a happinin' little coffee shop with lot's of lights coming from inside.

"What's going on in there?" Sango asked, intending it to be rhetorical.

"I guess we'll find out soon enough," Miroku answered, as he gave Sango his arm and walked inside with her.

Inside were a lot of people and a Latino band playing songs by Juanes. The current one was 'La camisa negra' from his newest CD: Mi sangre. The lights were flashing red, blue, green, and orange, and almost everyone in the coffee house was dancing, some were sitting, but not even they could resist the catchy music and were either tapping their feet or moving in some sort of way.

"You're right! This place is awesome!" Miroku exclaimed, as he took Sango's hand and led her to the dance floor.

She was reluctant at first, seeing as this coffee shop was usually very quiet. She caught a glimpse of a sign that said every Thursday was dance night. What luck. 'This must be one of their publicity attempts' she thought.

She soon got lost in Miroku's moves, seeing that he was a fabulous salsa dancer.

"Where'd you learn your moves Romeo?" she asked him, hinting that she was playing with him.

"I guess I picked it up somewhere. I travel a lot with my family. I've never really stayed in one place long enough to call it home though," He responded.

"I know that kind of life can be hard. My parents travel a lot but I insist that I stay home with my little brother every time they leave. Unfortunately though, I miss out on all of the different cultures," Sango replied.

"Lucky for you, you met me," Miroku said, as he captured Sango with his eyes once again.

"Yeah, lucky me," She barely breathed out as their faces got closer in the heat of the music. Their eyelids half closed as they got closer together.

The band stopped playing and the crowd cheered. This brought both of them out of their daze and Sango regained her composure and blushed deeply, cheering for the band.

"Why don't we order something and sit down for a while?" Sango suggested, trying to think about what she had almost done. Miroku sat down as well, trying to think about what he had missed out on.

"So do you like anything else besides Latin music?" Sango asked him, now going into her "gaining information" mode.

"Yeah, I pretty much like everything, but Latin music is so romantic. The language is very much about love and sounds so soothing to dance to. I guess my dancing just flows when I hear it," He answered, honestly.

'Oh my gosh. Why are his words making my heart beat faster?' Sango thought to herself.

'Man, I love it when girls fall for the romance thing' He thought to himself.

"Well, do you know how to speak any other languages?" she asked, preventing any drool from coming out of her mouth.

"I only know a little bit of Spanish, Italian, French, Chinese, and Mandarin. It's hard to get all of what they're saying when they sing so fast, but I get what the song is about. Like I said, the language, especially what they sing, is about long lost or romantic love," He answered.

"Wow. It seems that you've traveled almost all over the world. You're originally from Osaka though, right?" Sango questioned, apparently not as captured by his romantic hints as the first time.

"Yeah, I was born and lived there for most of my life. Until about 11 years ago. Then my father's stocks in his law firm chains rose dramatically and we started traveling all over the place," Miroku replied. He seemed a little disappointed in his last comment. Sango figured he probably didn't like his new change in lifestyle then.

"Well, are you going to take over your father's business when you're older? Or do you want to do something else?" she asked.

"Unfortunately, I have no say in the matter. I'm almost fully prepared to take over the business, or so my father says. After high school I'm going straight to the original office in Osaka and will become one of my father's top employees. Then when he dies, I'll take over," Miroku responded.

"I'm sorry about that. I mean, you should be free to do what you wish to. That's so unfair," Sango sympathized, now getting angry with his father, whom she didn't even know.

"What about you Sango? Do you want to be a lawyer like your parents?" he asked.

"Yeah, unlike your situation, I actually want to do what my parents do, but I don't have a business to inherit… My parents are a little against it though. They think I should explore my options. They think that I want to be a lawyer because it's all I've been around in my life. They're probably right to some extent, but I just want to be secure in whatever I do, and be successful," She explained.

"There are other ways of being successful, Sango. I think you should see what else is out there too. I'm sure whatever you do, you'll succeed," Miroku reassured, as he put his hand over hers.

"Thanks, you're sweet," Sango said smiling at him.

"That is why I make this crucial suggestion to you…" Miroku started, his face looking very serious.

"Yes?" she asked, looking to his face for answers.

He took her other hand and clasped them together within his own bigger hands. He looked deeply into her eyes and said: "Please bear my children."

Stunned at first, Sango didn't know what to say.

"You're not serious are you?" she asked, half laughing at his obvious joke.

"Yes I am, Sango. It is essential for me to produce an heir so he can take on the difficult task of business set upon my family," He answered, never breaking eye contact.

'Oh my god. He is serious' thought Sango. "You have plenty of time for that though," She assured, trying to free her hands from his.

"The sooner the better, right love?" he said, finally smiling. This smile looked very devious though, and rather… lecherous.

Finally freeing her hands, Sango looked at him in shock and yelled: "I can't believer you! You tricked me! How could I think that you could be any different from the rest of them? I'm such a fool," She finished with a sigh and started gathering up her things.

"Sango wait!" Miroku yelled after her, she was now leaving the coffee shop. "At least let me drive you home," He gasped out, as he caught up to her.

"Fine," Sango gave in, reluctantly. "But no funny stuff or you'll get it. I just don't want to walk home when it is so late."

'Great Miroku, you almost ruined that one' he thought to himself as he hurried to the car as well.

* * *

He pulled up to her house, for the second time that night. They had sat in awkward silence all the way home. He drove, and she sat there with her arms crossed the entire time.

"Well, I guess this is it," Miroku said, finally breaking the silence.

"Yeah, you're right. This _is _it," Sango snapped, with a very angry tone. "And don't _even_ apologize, because I know you don't mean it."

She then leaned over to the back seat of his car to get her sweater and purse. Unfortunately, this gave Miroku a prime moment to stroke the beautiful behind he had been staring at the whole time. Sango stiffened, and within seconds she had pulled herself back to the front seat and slapped Miroku harder than she had ever slapped any guy before.

"You never give up do you? That just ended your chances of being forgiven. I can't believe you, you pig! Actually, I can. It's pathetic how the male race is so idiotic. I pity the woman who falls for your act. I can't believe I actually thought you were better than this," She said.

She stared at his face for a long time as he rubbed his cheek.

'You screwed it up now Miroku' he thought.

She couldn't even stop the tears forming in her eyes, so she turned to the car door and roughly got out of the car.

"I guess you're lucky though," She said as she stood outside of the car, door still open. "I mean, you didn't even deserve tonight. Too bad I can't take it back. I regret ever seeing you," She finished.

The door to the car slammed. Footsteps could be heard in the cold, silent night as she ran to her house door and opened it in a rush. The tears had already fallen and she felt like a mess. She slammed her house door and turned her back to the door and slid to the bottom of the door. She heard a car speed off outside and let the sobs loose into her quiet, empty house.

'Who was I kidding?' she thought. 'Things Never Change.'

* * *

_**

* * *

A/N: This is the new edited version. I do that very often, type it up and post it right away, but then I go back and fix little parts that I think will help the plot better, or just is better description, etc. (Third times a charm! a.k.a. I'm not fixing anything else in this chapter unless it is CRUCIAL.)**_

**Disclaimers:** I don't own Inuyasha, Mudd(TM) jeans, Juanes or his song: La camisa negra, Ford Mustang cars (although that specific year is dedicated to my Mother's red mustang- which someday might be mine crosses fingers) .

**Original to now:** I changed Ayame's character into Koharu, because I decided Ayame would be a good character in this fic after all. Dihydrogen Monoxide is because I recently learned that that was actually water. Rather funny I thought.

In conclusion, I'm currently working on chapter 2 and hope to see it done within 2 weeks. Let's hope people. Also the next chapters following will not be this long. With spacing included (another change) it's about 17 pages on Word! I hope to take it down to a max of 10.

**See ya in Chapter 2: **'Back with a Vengeance'.


	2. Back with a Vengeance

_**A/N: **Thanks to all my reviewers out there! I don't have many, but I'm sorry the update took so long. Hopefully my muse will come to me easier now, but unfortunately the chapters won't be as long as the first one. I planned on that one being at least 6 pages on Word minimum, but it turned out being 17 (w/spacing)! Go figure. Anyway, sorry for the long introduction and drama near the ending- the muse strikes again. This chapter is dedicated to my reviewer I am Miroku, who was the one who reminded me to start working on this thing! LOL_

Moonyme- My first reviewer! Glad you liked the way I planned it out. It took a while to finally put it all in text but I'm happy it happened!

Inulover7- Thanks for reading my story, and I hope Miroku doesn't change! I love him the way he is, and all of is lecherous ways.

ErskaMay- Personally I don't know if I could take your comment as a comment. Well, I guess you said it was good, but I enjoyed Envy's praise a little better. Sorry. He he… runs away before you can hit me

I am Miroku- You're actually Miroku? Oh My God! You just made my day, being Miroku himself. What? You're not him? Aw… I guess you're as close as it gets for now, I still have to figure out a way to trap Kirby Morrow (English voice of Miroku)…Oh well, I'm glad you enjoyed my story and are one of my fans that might come back and read this next chapter- it makes me happy. Cool! You're also considered my "peer" seeing as you are my age and all- although I'm soon to be 17 in October. And as for your question: slap Let's just leave it at that you lecher. LOL

That was the original message I wrote to you before I knew who you were. Kinda funny, so I just left it.

Personification of Fluff- The infamous author has come to review for me! I feel honored. I'm new to this writing thing… what is AU? Here are a few answers to your criticisms, which I greatly appreciate, 1) Sango's not really a flirt, she does like guys though, or at least how they look (kinda shallow, but yeah). I kinda made this factor similar to me. She can check them out right? They're not the real worthwhile type though, and who pays attention in History anyway? Not me! I'm glad you asked about her kind of feeling heartbroken which I hope gets answered in this chapter a little and through out the story. (maybe it was a little dramatic, but I couldn't help it). 2) The List was just something I thought would help illustrate both the personality and the physical properties of some of the characters. LOL More intro in this chapter too, kinda annoying. 3) I'll keep the grammar stuff in mind. I re-edited chapter one to fit the "standards". I know what you mean with the whole 'said' thing. I kinda did say it a lot…

BTW, Hydrogen Dioxide is one hydrogen, two oxygens. Water has two hydrogens, one oxygen making it Dihydrogen Monoxide. My AP Biology and Chemistry teachers agreed, I've never heard it referred to as such before, thought it would be cool to insert that funny fact just because. And Miroku kind of has that effect on people… myself included.

Sangosiena- thanks for the reviews! Here's your update!

* * *

**Recap: **The tears had already fallen and she felt like a mess. She slammed her house door and turned her back to the door and slid to the bottom of the door. She heard a car speed off outside and let the sobs loose into her quiet, empty house. 'Who was I kidding?' she thought. 'Things Never Change.' 

**Another Life**

**Chapter 2: Back with a Vengeance**

Sango had slept hard that night, not comfortably, but the kind of sleep where you don't move all night long and wake up just as grumpy as when you had gone to sleep. It's like the hours didn't even happen. As much as she tried to, she couldn't forget last night's catastrophe. The feeling made her heart weep that she was so naïve to have believed that jerk. Then again, it made her feel like a total drama queen. I mean, he asked her to bear his children and then proceeded to rub her the wrong way, literally. I guess he wasn't all that bad, but she was still upset that he tried to pull that with her. He was not the first to do so.

Ever since Sango had matured, physically anyway, guys had always been attracted to her body. She was probably the most well endowed girl in the school. She was modest though, and that kept her mystery and class intact. She didn't flaunt and that was another trait that "mesmerized" the opposite sex. With all of this running for her, it was no surprise that she got so upset when they saw her as a piece of meat or some prize to be won. She wanted to be treated respectfully and feel loved, not _wanted_. Well, maybe a little wanted, but not like she was a toy to use one day and forgotten the next. That was Kikyo's job, or so she had made that out for herself.

Once Kikyo had dated Inuyasha, the object of Kagome's affection now, and she was just as wholesome as our friendly group of five. It ended on a bad note and they never made up, not even to become friends. She hooked up with the "bad guy" of the school, Naraku, saying that he "opened up her horizons". She started getting worse academically and better in the arts of seduction, drugs, and hanging out with the wrong type of people. She constantly is toying with Inuyasha's dormant feelings for her every chance she gets.

Back to Sango. Instead of waking up her cheery self to greet the morning, she felt… well, like crap. Even her mood was a grumpy one and she didn't even make breakfast for Kohaku. No makeup, not even her signature eye makeup that brought out the blush in her cheeks. She rolled out of bed ten minutes before school, to the noise of Kagome banging on her front door.

"Sango! Are you in there? Why didn't you come to my house? You better be in there and not left me for school! We're both gonna be late!" Kagome shouted.

This was odd. Sango _never_ was late. She _never_ slept in either, not even on weekends! Then it dawned on her: Sango slept in when she was exhausted. Emotionally, but physically sometimes too, when you work your body until you can't move. She squealed with girlish joy. Sango had failed to call her last night regarding her date. Perhaps it never had ended…

"Sango, I'm coming in! You and whoever else are in the house better be dressed!" Kagome shouted, this time with a smile.

She opened the door with the key from the mailbox (secret hiding place) and went in cautiously. She quietly creeped up the stairs to Sango's room and peeked in. Sango was in a rush in getting her backpack together, uniform on. She looked like a mess. To a normal person, she would have looked beautiful as ever, just as she did everyday. To Kagome though, she was a wreck on the inside.

"Sango, what's wrong? Is everything okay?" she asked, concerned.

"Of course!" Sango looked back with the fakest smile she had ever seen, it was a little scary.

Kagome rolled her eyes.

"Don't even pull this with me Sango. I'm your BEST friend. I know when something is up. I tried to be the curious, innocent, ease-into-it kind of friend just now, but when you deny it to my face, I get upset. So spill, we're not going to school until you do!" Kagome retorted.

Sango's expression turned from a surprised one to one of thought. It was only rare occasions that Kagome ever got mad, and she had never had the experience firsthand, it was usually Inuyasha who got yelled at. She turned her head to the side, so Kagome wouldn't see her tears right away. She knew she would see them eventually and wanted to go to school today, so she didn't hold anything back anymore.

"Oh Kagome! I feel awful!" She managed to sob out as she flung her arms around Kagome to get some friendly support.

"So I was right. Well sort of. I'm sorry Sango," She apologized, as she patted her friend's head.

"Right about what?" Sango asked, now more curious than upset.

"You and Miroku. Ya know, did… _it,_" She forced herself to say the last part.

"_It_? Like have sex?" Sango asked, now standing on her own weight, a slight smile on her face.

"Shh! You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to. It was obviously a traumatic thing," Kagome whispered, waving her hands for Sango to stop and looking around as if they were talking about a forbidden topic.

"Kagome! I can't believe you actually thought I would do that!" Sango yelled, half laughing, half getting over the fact that she was just upset five seconds ago.

"Well, I mean… what did you think I would think? You didn't call yesterday with the details so I figured… ya know… that he was still here," Kagome stammered, trying to explain her assumptions.

"No. It was the actual opposite. He was such a jerk. He's no different than the rest of the scum that go to our school," Sango corrected, sighing and holding her head as if she had a headache, the anger and hatred from the night before had seemed to disappear and left indifference and disappointment.

"I'm sorry Sango. It really felt like this one might be the one. Well, it seemed like you were a little more excited than usual," Kagome brought up.

"Yeah, I still have that feeling. He's different somehow, but I don't know what that something is," Sango agreed, recalling the mystery of this man.

"Do you still have the hots for him then?" Kagome inquired.

"No! No guy like that, no matter how mysterious he is, deserves any more time with me than necessary. Which in his case, I hope is never again," Sango said, her nose up in the air.

'She is soooo lying again' Kagome thought, with a slight roll in her eyes. "Okay, whatever you say. Just don't let him get you worked up again. I don't want to have to yell anymore, unless it's at Inuyasha," Kagome said.

The girls laughed at that and remembered that they were going to miss the bus if they didn't hurry up.

* * *

Sango had to re-explain everything to Ayumi, Yuka and Eri on the bus, but left the part about her getting worked up over it out. Only Kagome would be sworn to secrecy that Sango had ever cried over some guy.

Sango's rep was a confusing one. Not only was she the most beautiful and the hardest to get, she also had a slight barrier around her. She never let anyone get too close, so as to hurt her. She'd went on "dates" with other guys, but they were all out to a movie or an amusement park or some public outing. Nothing too personal, and within the first five minutes she would always decide if she liked them or not. Conversation was key. If all they had to talk about was how beautiful or in their words "hot" she was or about how successful they or their family was, she knew that this was a definite "No."

Miroku had been her first "real" date, in Sango's book. Unfortunately it had turned out for the worst.

She came into school that day laughing with her friends as usual and turned into what Kagome called "icy" Sango when everyone asked her about her date with Miroku. She made little to no conversation with the envious girls from the day before. Her demeanor was the opposite from the way she was feeling. She held her head high and mighty like dates were no big deal, like a stuck-up prude princess. Inside she felt stupid for acting this way and also very hurt that she put her self out there like an idiot for him to trample all over.

All of this ended for a split second as she passed the man she never wanted to see again. Picture this: slow motion, Sango and Miroku are in the same time sphere, he has his arms leaning against a girl's locker, a girl below him and talking down toward her in a seductive/sexy way, they both are smiling, girls are buzzing about Sango- trying to get any information out of her and she is pretty much ignoring them, her view from straight ahead goes to looking toward Miroku, she sees the girl Miroku is wooing giggle and he looks up toward her, only to see her surprised eyes for a split second, then she 'hmph's and goes back to her ignoring, which now includes him. All he can do is stare at her with a mouth slightly open, thinking of some apology to say, but knowing she won't hear a word of it, he says nothing.

(This happens over a span of about 10 seconds, but you know how they show these kinds of things in movies. Total drama here and very crucial.)

Miroku leaves the giggly girl he was talking to, to walk toward Sango. He's kind of half-running, trying to dodge more giggly girls, toward his objective. Instead of halting her by pulling her arm so she would turn around, he passes her and walks in front of her so his face is right in front of hers, forcing her to stop and look straight at him.

Sango doesn't ignore him this time but proceeds to put her weight on one of her sides, arms crossed- this gives the effect of making her look beautiful, bitchy and serious a.k.a. very effective in saying to anyone: 'What do you want?'

"Sango. Good morning. I just wanted to talk to you about last night," Miroku said, sincerely but then hesitant at the last part seeing as Sango pretty much had a posse of girls behind her, hanging off of his every word.

She then proceeded to tap her foot- meaning to continue and that she wasn't going off to "talk to him in private." Whatever he had to say, he could say it right here and right now.

"Well, umm… I just wanted to say sorry that you got a bad impression of me yesterday and I was wondering if you could forgive me and maybe hangout at lunch to talk about it, umm… just you and I," Miroku said, still sincerely but now his eyes looking above his glasses rims at the girls towering over Sango.

Sango looked over her shoulder, and the gang of girls resumed their places at the same height level as she. She then looked back at Miroku and cleared her throat. She had something to say alright, and she was going to make sure everyone heard this.

"I told you before Miroku. It's over between us. I don't wish to go on another date with you… Ever. Clear?" Sango said, loud enough so that it turned heads and it made a big scene in the hall.

"Crystal," Miroku glared back at her with a straight face, but she could see the storm raging in his eyes- full of hatred.

He then slid out of her way with his hands up as if he had lost a bet, gesturing for her to pass. Head high once again, she resumed her pacing and only had Kagome, Ayumi, Eri, and Yuka behind her. All of the others had stayed behind to ogle, dote and hang off of the new hot, single guy.

All Sango could hear now were many giggles along with: "Ladies, ladies, calm down. There's plenty of me for everyone."

* * *

By lunchtime, it was all around school that Sango had dumped another one. Miroku was getting much sympathy from Sango's many dumpees and Sango was getting much support from the girls that thought all guys were jerks.

Again with her reputation. She was known as "experienced" and "bitchy" when she dumped each and every guy after the first date. Miroku was just one of her accomplishments. Sango hated keeping up this look, especially when she had to make the scene in the hall. It hurt her to do that to Miroku, especially when he looked at her with such cold eyes. The only way to protect herself was to hurt those who came too close. Miroku had come closer than anyone else, besides Kagome and her friends. She found herself wanting to tell him all about her dreams and aspirations last night at the coffee shop. Like he was some old friend catching up on things. Maybe that's why it hurt her to see him act like all her other "dates." All they wanted to do was get in her pants, but they were never as blunt as he was!

Sango shook her head. "Bearing his children" he called it. That was so old-fashioned, and even though it was the first time she had heard it, it felt all too familiar to hear. It almost made her laugh. Slapping him right after he groped her came naturally too. 'Weird' Sango thought. No one had ever been bold enough to even attempt that either, especially when they knew it was over. She shrugged it off. I mean, how did this make her special? She was just the first girl _in this school _that he probably tried that on. I'm sure by now he had tried it on about 10 other girls. Sango sighed. A part of her wished that she were the first girl he had asked that to. 'Why?' Her mind was contradicting itself today and she didn't like it.

* * *

School was finally over. It felt like the longest day Sango had ever had in her entire life. With her head in a slump, she trudged home, with Kagome beside her, feeling as if her feet were dead weight. Kagome spotted Inuyasha and Miroku; they seemed to have become best friends by now. Kagome couldn't help but let out a sigh as she stared at Inuyasha. Almost right afterward, Sango looked up from the pavement and toward her friend's object of desire. She then groaned. She couldn't get Miroku off her mind all day. She knew she had to apologize for her behavior earlier, hopefully he would understand…

As they neared the two boys, only then did they acknowledge the girls' presence. Inuyasha smiled unknowingly, his eyes only seeing Kagome, and Miroku kept a straight face, even when his eyes locked with Sango's. Sango felt a pain in her chest when he looked at her like that; it was as if he was throwing invisible darts at her with that glare. She winced, and held her chest. 'That really hurt! What the hell is going on?' Sango thought. Obviously she was letting him get to her too much. Why were her defenses so low when she was around him?

"Hey Kagome." Inuyasha sighed, still smiling.

"Hey Inuyasha." Kagome sighed similarly.

Only then did both Miroku and Sango look away from each other and at their friends. Both Inuyasha and Kagome seemed to have some sort of love-struck look glazed over their eyes, more than normal anyway.

Before Sango could ask what had gotten into them both, they both turned and started walking together, leaving Sango and Miroku alone. They were still staring at each other in that eerie way and had seemed to have forgotten that they left their friends behind.

Sango and Miroku looked back at each other, confused. Then they broke out into laughter. Sango knew they had some sort of thing going on, but this was the weirdest result yet.

The two started absent-mindedly walking side by side, still laughing. When they regained their composure, they were still smiling. Something about walking like this made Sango feel an unknown familiarity. Walking in pairs, with Inuyasha and Kagome in front, and her and Miroku not too far behind them. She found herself asking Miroku: "Does this feel familiar to you?"

"Oddly enough, it does." He responded, liking the feeling he got when he agreed with her. "Wait, I'm supposed to be mad at you." He remembered, pointing a finger at Sango, while turning toward her slightly.

"Oh yeah. About that… Listen, I'm _really_ sorry about how I acted today. I felt like a real bitch saying it to you in front of all those people like that. I've felt really guilty all day long and I really hope you can forgive me. I guess I was just still a little pissed from the night before and…" Sango rambled.

"Shh… I understand. I did kinda come off a little strong. I totally deserved that this morning, even though I was upset that you embarrassed me on the second day of school… anyway, I obviously underestimated your character quite a bit. I should be the one to apologize." Miroku interrupted.

"No, no. I overreacted yesterday. I just was caught by surprise. I overestimated you at first, and then this morning I underestimated you so… um… I didn't estimate you right either." Sango came to a conclusion. Her words slipped up in front of him too. She needed to make a list of all the side affects of being around him.

"Well then, I think we can call it even." Miroku compromised.

"Yeah, I guess… maybe we should just start over." Sango agreed, joy coming back to her voice.

"Okay… Hi there, I'm Miroku." He turned toward her extending his hand out for her to shake.

"I didn't mean like that. I meant, with a clean slate, just friends." Sango clarified, laughing slightly. She found her self more susceptible to his bad humor as well. That was about side affect number 10 or something.

"Sounds good to me, so long as I get to be graced by your beautiful presence." Miroku agreed, his suave voice coming back.

"Don't push it, Romeo." Sango teased, smiling back.

* * *

On the other side of town, things weren't as forgiving. In the shadier parts of Tokyo, yelling could be heard in one of the side alleys.

"What! You can't do this to me!" a woman's voice bellowed.

"That's just the way the things are, baby. It's not like you were all into it anyway. You just wanted me for the se-" a man's voice was cut short.

"Bullshit! I loved you. Then you toss me in the gutter like one of your hoe-bags. I'm outtie, I sure as hell don't need this." The woman's voice obviously ended further conversation, and high-heeled footsteps could be heard walking off into the distance.

'I don't need him. Hmph. I guess I could go back to that hellhole they call school… oh yeah… HE's there. I'm sure to get a warm welcome then.' She smiled wickedly.

'I guess I'll just have to come back with a bit of vengeance. It'll be good to see you… Inuyasha.'

* * *

_**

* * *

A/N:** AAAHHH! Evil cliffie of doom! I bet you all know who it is anyway. Excuse my French there at the end, I believed it was necessary to get the point across. I had a little trouble thinking of the ending, that's why it took so long. Never fear though! The story is NOT hiatus and I DO plan on finishing it. When that is, I cannot say, but it will end! Someday… I'm thankful for your patience and faith. Thank my favorite holiday of the year for the update. _

**HAPPY HALLOWEEN!**


	3. Denying

**Recap: **'I don't need him. Hmph. I guess I could go back to that hellhole they call school… oh yeah… HE's there. I'm sure to get a warm welcome then.' She smiled wickedly.

'I guess I'll just have to come back with a bit of vengeance. It'll be good to see you… Inuyasha.'

**Another Life**

**Chapter 3: Denying**

"_Everyone can see who you are, take a look at yourself… Tell me why, keep on denying._

_Everything you say… denying._

_Everything you do, so be a fool to yourself forever more…trying._

_Any kind of move, Tell me_

_So what's it gonna prove?_

_You ain't fooling nobody…_

_You ain't fooling nobody…denying._

_You aint' fooling nobody but yourself…"_

- Denying by the Spice Girls

Today was the first day in a while that Sango had gotten a good night's rest. She woke up on time and even Kohaku could tell that she had a little pep in her step.

After making up with Miroku, a heavy weight seemed to lift itself off of her heart, and it made her feel even better than before she met him.

"What's up with you this morning Sango?" Kohaku asked. "You've been acting weird for the past couple of days."

"Oh, nothing," she responded, and continued to her cooking, humming a cheerful tune.

* * *

At school, things were going to be better. Sango would see Miroku in a lot of her classes today. To make the deal of just being friends final, she made a mental note to smile at him a lot today. But then there was that scene she made the other day… damn; she thought this was going too easy. People were going to think that she was using Miroku, and not really his friend, or that they had sex and she was easy. Any way, it looked bad.

'Oh My Gosh! There he is in the hall! What do I do?' she screamed in her brain. She ducked into the nearest girls' restroom as he turned her way.

'Was that Sango?' he thought. 'Ah, well. I'll see her in my first class anyway.' The sound of "Drop It Like It's Hot" could be heard coming from Miroku's pocket.

"Moushi, Moushi. Miroku here," He answered his cell phone.

"Miroku, it's me Sango," she whispered.

"Sango! I thought I just saw you go in the bathroom just now, is everything okay? Why are you whispering?" he asked.

"Shh! I _am_ in the bathroom. That's why I'm whispering," she clarified.

"Sango, I mean, I know we decided to be friends again, but you don't have to talk to me while… you're in _there_," he whispered back. "Unless…"

"Pervert! I'm not _going_ to the bathroom; I'm just in a stall to hide," she retorted.

"Whom are you hiding from? Is it a secret? A game? Can I play? I'll cover for you…" he trailed off.

"Stupid! It's not a game! Well… not that kind anyway! You remember what happened in the hall yesterday, right? Well, I have to fix it," she responded.

"You already apologized though. I thought we said we were cool. What's going on?" he rambled.

"Focus Miroku. I made a big scene on _purpose_ you dumbass. I have to fix it _publicly_. Understand?" she said slowly.

"Oh… yeah, but not really. Why did you make a big scene on purpose anyway? I wondered why you seemed so mad and then apologized like it was nothing," he pondered.

"It's a long story, and I'll tell you another time, but now, this is what we're gonna do…"

* * *

Sango emerged from the restroom casually and made her way to the place where she and Miroku had their argument yesterday. Now that she thought about it, it was more of just a put down for him and a shout fest for her. tear drop She would have to make this apology good.

When she arrived, Miroku was already there. It happened to be the corner wear two long rows of lockers met, and most of the classes everyone took nearby. As she strolled up, she saw a lot of the same people from yesterday. Good. They were already starting to catch on that something big was going to happen again.

When she finally reached Miroku, she casually said, "Miroku, I need to speak to you."

"Oh, really? The stuck up prude-princess wants to _talk_ to me now, is it?" he backfired.

'Great job Miroku!' she praised him for his acting skills in her mind. All he saw was a smirk as she looked sideways down to the floor.

"I deserved that," she started, "But I came to talk about… more like apologize for my behavior yesterday. There isn't really a valid excuse for it, and I'll understand if you don't forgive me, especially since I was a royal bitch…." she continued.

Miroku could tell that Sango's words rang true, and she kept that slight smirk on the whole time. He actually felt like he had done something wrong again, as if the first apology didn't even happen and his heart sank knowing that Sango actually felt bad all over again. A light bulb went off in his head and he understood…

"So, I just came to profusely apologize and only ask for your forgiveness, even though I know I don't deserve it," she finished.

"Sango, Sango, Sango…" Miroku said as he shook his head, "Of course I'll forgive you. You're a wonderful person and deserve better than I treated you on our date. Forgive me?"

"Um… I… yes." Sango stuttered. Why was he being so nice to her? She was shocked at his response. It was so… romancing. As she blushed a slight pink, she stretched her hand forward to seal the deal with a handshake.

He took it in his hand gently and turned it so her palm faced down. He gently kissed her knuckles as he had the day he had met her, making her cheeks redden even more.

As Sango put her other hand to her face to stifle a laugh and hide her red face, she was suddenly pulled forward and hit a soft, warm, and welcoming embrace. Surprised at first, she accepted it willingly within seconds with an equal amount of force. Burying her face in Miroku's shoulder, she tilted her head towards his ear and whispered, "Thank You."

Miroku rubber the upper part of her back soothingly and whispered back, "Anytime, for you."

At that moment, Sango felt like she could tell Miroku anything. One stray tear fell from her eye as she smelled his masculine, but clean, scent one last time before breaking apart the heavenly arms she didn't want to leave.

The halls were filled with cheers and applauding from all the onlookers. Sango and Miroku jumped at the sound, completely forgetting that they were putting on a show. They smiled at each other and took a bow. While laughing, the happy twosome walked to their class, with each other's arms around the other's shoulders, very palsy like.

When they approached their Literature class, Miroku let his arm loosen on her shoulder and it fell down her back gently. Lower and then lower... Sango whipped around quickly, letting a little squeal leave her mouth before pulling her hand back like a catapult to Miroku's face. He cringed at what he knew was coming, but opened one eye to see a smiling Sango when it didn't happen. She caressed his face at the destination of her slap from the other night and said, nonchalantly, "Don't tempt me. You know how much it hurt last time."

Miroku put his hands up in defense and when she put her hands on her hips, he turned it into a gentlemanly usher into the class. While shaking her head, she headed to her seat.

'I guess he's not changing, I'll just have to get used to him.' She thought. 'For once, I'm perfectly fine with that.'

* * *

During lunch, Miroku joined Kagome, Sango, Inuyasha and friends. It was a comfortable atmosphere and there was much merriment and laughter. The girls (Kagome, Sango, Eri, Yuka, and Ayumi) gossiped and giggled, while the guys (Inuyasha, Miroku, and Hojo) conversed about sports and other "manly" things, occasionally looking to the girls when a fit of laughter occurred, proceeded by a shrug from all three of them.

Chemistry was next. Kagome planned the cram session for her and Inuyasha's Big-Chemistry-Pass-or-Fail Exam this Saturday and Sango and Miroku both volunteered to help their friends in need. It was going to be an all day and all night thing, with occasional movie watching and food consuming.

Once seated and the class had settled, three people entered the class, to everyone's surprise. Kagura, Koharu and Kikyo. The KKK had arrived, making an entrance as usual. This was a rare moment, not only were they _actually_ attending class, they all had on proper school uniforms too, not the usual midriff and scantily showing clothes they usually wore. Kagura and Koharu were on either side of Kikyo, both slightly in back of her. Kikyo looked beautiful as ever. When she wasn't playing whore for the day, she was decent, with her long, silky, ebony hair flowing down to the bottom of her back. She took this moment to run her fingers through it, before looking in the direction of Inuyasha and flipping her hair, Bay Watch style. Kagura and Koharu, not only acting as Kikyo's henchman, acted as a tools to make her look better. Though they weren't ugly looking girls, seeing them with their tightly pinned back hair, only exaggerated the beauty of Kikyo's.

"Well, well, well, it seems you girls actually _do_ care about your marks, nice to see you, and in good form. Although you're tardy, I'll let it slide since you're actually _here_. Please take your seats." Ms. Yomagida greeted.

The three bowed to their teacher and took their respective seats, Kagura having to pair with someone else who happened to be absent, since she had been replaced as Sango's partner by Miroku. Kikyo and Koharu's seats happened to be right behind Inuyasha and Kagome. Kagome scowled as Inuyasha was a little awe stuck seeing his ex-girlfriend, beautiful as ever. Kikyo smiled at him the way she used to, thinking that her plan was working perfectly.

"Oh no…" Sango whispered under her breath.

"What's the matter?" Miroku answered back.

"Well, you see the girl with the long hair that just came in? She was Inuyasha's girlfriend about a year ago." Sango replied.

"Is that a problem?" Miroku asked.

"Of course it is. Kagome is having trouble with him as it is and I don't see this situation helping any." Sango said worriedly.

"I see… she broke it off with _him_, so he's not really over her is he?" Miroku inquired.

"Right. I'm worried about them both." Sango agreed.

"I'll see what I can do…" Miroku assured her.

* * *

Just as Sango had expected, Kikyo was looking for an opportune time to get Inuyasha alone to herself. God she was fickle, only using him for her own gain, for who knows what the hell for this time. Kagome seemed to be giving him the cold shoulder and he didn't seem to know why. Inuyasha had a puzzled face as Kagome stomped off, giving Kikyo time to step behind him a whisper something in his ear to make him turn around. She had her backup team behind her and Sango had to be brave. She quickly but surely made her way over there, with Miroku being pulled along, and made up a quick excuse for the intrusion: "Kikyo, so sorry to butt in, but Inuyasha here needs his tutoring session with me and Miroku. You can catch up another time, maybe if you came to class more often than not."

It was Kikyo's turn to scowl, as this was an unexpected speed bump in her plan, and had to let them leave. Miroku looked back toward the KKK, to see Koharu blush at his stare. It must have been instinct, because he smiled the lecherous smile right back.

Having gotten far enough away, and having grabbed arms of both boys, she hit Inuyasha upside the head. "Ow, what was that for?" he stupidly asked.

"You're hopeless. What were you doing talking to that bitch? Do I need to spell it out for you, or should I mention more discretely why Kagome is mad at you?" Sango half yelled.

"You know what's bothering her? I thought everything was going alright but then she got all mad after class…" Inuyasha trailed off.

This time, Miroku hit him upside the head, harder than Sango had and he said: "Idiot. With you drooling all over that other girl, you're lucky she didn't do anything worse than that," Miroku answered for Sango.

"I wasn't drooling!" Inuyasha retorted.

"It could have been interpreted as such by Kagome. Part of going out is not looking at other girls," Sango had calmly stated.

"She said we're going out?" Inuyasha questioned.

"Um… well, no, but aren't you?" Sango hadn't expected this.

"Well, we haven't had this discussion yet, it's still on the down low, I think," Inuyasha whispered.

"For the love of god. You guys aren't even official yet? Down low? Puhlease… at least the whole school knows about you guys by now," Sango sighed.

"Really?" Inuyasha asked. All this information was new to him, how come he didn't know about all these rules? Gosh, girls were confusing…

"Inuyasha, how many times does Sango have to say it? You have to go apologize to Kagome and make things all better," Miroku summed up.

"But she won't even talk to me, what do I do?" Inuyasha asked worriedly.

"Since, I don't want anything between you guys to get messed up so early in the game, I'll fix things with her. Just steer clear of Kikyo until things are stronger between you guys. It'll be for the best, especially since Kikyo is on a mission to use you again," Sango assured as she went off in search of Kagome.

"She's right you know… but first, tell me more about this Kikyo person Inuyasha…and her friends."

* * *

"There you are Kagome. I've been looking all over for you," Sango gasped out, having run all over most of the school.

"Don't even try it Sango, I'm not speaking with Inuyasha," Kagome retorted.

"You know you guys are meant for each other, both stubborn to the core," Sango laughed.

"I am not stubborn!" Kagome yelled.

"Why are you even mad at him, did he even _do_ anything to you?" Sango asked.

"You saw how he was looking at her. I thought he was my boyfriend now, but she's come back to screw things up again. I don't think it's going to work out…" Kagome cried.

It was Sango's turn to let Kagome cry on her shoulder. She patted her head gently as Kagome let her worries run through her tears like Niagara Falls. Notice people switching roles a lot today?

"Shh… Kagome, you know it takes Inuyasha longer to figure things out. You need to go to him when things are feeling rocky, that is the definition of a relationship. Communication is key. I don't even think he knows you guys are official yet," Sango comforted her.

"Well, we're not… but I was going to talk to him today about it. I guess it just feels like he should've known, already. I must look stupid to him right now," Kagome admitted.

"No you don't. You never could to me," said an unexpected voice.

Kagome looked up from Sango's shoulder suddenly to see Inuyasha and Miroku standing a few feet away. She gasped and covered her face from embarrassment. Sango stepped to the side next to Miroku to make sure everything was okay.

"Don't hide from me Kagome. I'm sorry I didn't understand why you were upset. I should have been there for you," Inuyasha apologized.

"No, I'm the one who should be sorry for just being mad at you and running away. Bad habits I guess," Kagome apologized.

"Oh come on now you two. We don't have all day. Let's get to the making up, pronto!" Miroku yelled.

Kagome and Inuyasha scowled at him for breaking the moment and then Kagome looked toward Sango who got the message. She then tugged on Miroku's ear like a mother would her bad son and made him turn around with her.

With no further interruptions, the happy couple embraced in forgiveness. Inuyasha then whispered in her ear: "So it's official?"

Kagome smiled at the thought: "Yes."

"Aw… no better way to christen a new relationship with a little argument beforehand, huh?" Sango interrupted, smiling.

"I guess so," Kagome scowled.

"Hey, she did it this time, not me," Miroku said pointing a finger at Sango.

The happy gang of friends laughed at the awkwardness of all of this and began walking home.

* * *

"So, you guys, you know me and Inuyasha have to study for our big exam coming up right?" Kagome reminded.

"Ugh," Inuyasha groaned.

"Yeah, when did you want to start studying for that?" Sango asked.

"Well, I was thinking about this weekend. I'll have the whole house to myself and we can make it an all-day, all-night thing, with food, movies, and of course studying," Kagome suggested.

"Like a sleepover?" Miroku asked, getting happier by the second.

"I don't know about this Kagome, what would I tell my parents? Oh, yeah, Mom and Dad, I'm going to be spending the night at Kagome's with two boys about my own age. You know how their hormones rage. It'll be okay right?" Sango said sarcastically.

"Silly, what I meant by "to myself" was that my mom would get home late and Souta would be staying the night at his friend Shippo's house," Kagome clarified.

"Aw.. way to spoil the fun Kagome," Miroku groaned.

"Pervert. The purpose is to help me and Inuyasha pass, not for you to make your fantasies come true," Kagome scolded.

"What fantasies would those be Miroku?" Inuyasha inquired with a mischievous look.

"Well…" he started.

"You Hentai! I can't believe you!" Sango yelled, slapping his face.

"I can tell this weekend is going to be tons of fun…" Kagome sighed, teardropping.

* * *

_**

* * *

A/N: Woot! Another chapter is up and I'm very happy with it. Lot's of making up, which I love. It is the next best thing to innocent fluffyness. Hee hee. The next chapter should be lots of fun, seeing is that it will be all about their weekend "studying". Bad author that I am, it will hopefully be up before I go back to school in 2 weeks or shortly afterward. Sorry for taking so long with the update, over a month, but school was being mean. This will be about the average chapter length and I think it will be a long story. Please review!**_

_**Extra note: **The title "Denying" refers to the character Kikyo. Some things to look forward to in further chapters: Ayame and Koga, sometime later, scandals with Miroku and Sango and another girl, and dreams of their past lives…_

I am Miroku- Just wanted to say, or cyber-spacely do this: slap. Well, Sango still is a friend to him after what he says because it's something she just has come to expect/deal with, similar to that of you and me, we're still friends, even though you grope me electronically. That sounded weird. Plus, there are some underlying conflicts with how Sango ACTUALLY feels about him doing that... we'll see. Punk of the pryo- Well, I'm glad you feel drawn to my story now. It makes me glad that you'll be a future reviewer. It's a really popular picture among Sango/Miroku fans and it is what inspired me to write this story. If you have any ideas or requests of any kind, I would gladly take them into consideration and possibly write about them too.

Punk of the pryo- Well, I'm glad you feel drawn to my story now. It makes me glad that you'll be a future reviewer. It's a really popular picture among Sango/Miroku fans and it is what inspired me to write this story. If you have any ideas or requests of any kind, I would gladly take them into consideration and possibly write about them too.

**HAPPY HOLIDAYS!**


	4. Pass or Bust!

**Recap: **"So, you guys, you know me and Inuyasha have to study for our big exam coming up right?" Kagome reminded.

…"I can tell this weekend is going to be tons of fun…" Kagome sighed, teardropping.

**Another Life**

**Chapter 4: Pass or Bust!**

"Kagome… Kagome, wake up," a soft, womanly voiced whispered.

Kagome could feel someone shaking her softly, as the world was coming into view through her blurry, sleep-ridden eyes.

"Eh…" Kagome mumbled.

She sat upright, and groggily looked toward the person that woke her up.

"Sango? What are you doing here so early?" Kagome asked sleepily still. "It's… sixty thirty in the morning! Who wakes up this early on a weekend?" Kagome yelled.

"Well, I do for starters, and so does Miroku and Inuyasha," Sango replied.

"Unintentionally!" came Inuyasha's voice from outside her bedroom door.

Miroku came through her door, tugging Inuyasha by his shirt, who also looked just as sleepy as Kagome. Both were dressed in loose shorts, tank tops, and running shoes. Miroku's shorts were a deep purple, and his tank was a navy blue wife-beater (**_A/N_**: _I know I hate the name for these shirts but it's the only way to explain them, as if Miroku would ever be a wife-beater!_). Inuyasha had the same, but red shorts and a white shirt. Now that things were coming into focus, Sango had on similar workout clothing, but more fitting for a woman of course: a halter white tank with a cross in the back and tight pink shorts that came to mid-thigh.

"Wait, what's going on here? Are we going to the gym?" Kagome asked.

"Close enough. We're going running to get your brain juices flowing and get down to studying, or did you forget that it was your idea to study this weekend?" Sango responded.

"Running? This early?" Kagome complained.

"That's what I said," Inuyasha chipped in.

"Now, now, Sango has a point. If you guys want to pass the Chemistry final, you have to be in the right state of mind. Exercising does help clear the body of ill feelings, making room for ONLY chemistry. Because, face it, you guys only have room for that, or you have no hope…" Miroku reminded.

"Aw, man…" both Kagome and Inuyasha sighed.

"Miroku! That isn't helping! They need their confidence up right now, and running will help them do just that. It always makes me feel that way," Sango clarified.

"Alright, alright. Sango can you help me pick something out? I'm still only half awake," Kagome asked while wobbling out of bed and into the bathroom.

* * *

"So… where exactly are we going anyway?" Inuyasha managed to say after running for about 15 minutes.

Everyone else, besides Sango, looked exhausted from running about a mile. Sango was leading them all, while Kagome was several steps behind, holding her side and panting. Miroku and Inuyasha held up the back side by side, jogging at a tired pace. Miroku had to slide his glasses up to his eyes from so much sweat on his perspirating face.

"We're going to my secret place, it'll be worth it, just wait a bit longer," Sango smiled.

At hearing that their destination was close, Kagome got up the courage to run harder and have a little fun the rest of the way: "Why do you ask anyway Inuyasha, you're not tired yet, are you?"

"Is that a challenge?" he retorted.

"Last one there has to carry the other one back!" Kagome yelled, as she was able to get a head start.

She quickly passed Sango in a frenzy with Inuyasha close behind yelling back: "I hope you can carry a lot of weight Kagome, because you're not gonna beat me!"

Miroku soon joined Sango at her side as she stared at them stunned.

"Those two are always at it, aren't they?" he laughed.

"Afraid so, and they don't even realize that they've passed where we're heading either," she sighed.

"Inuyasha, Kagome! Come back!" Miroku shouted, while coming to a halt beside Sango.

"Well, I suppose we can take a quick peek while they head on back," Sango decided.

She pulled away a bush on the left, and then the right, to reveal a huge lake, with a sandy beach a few steps away from it. There was a small man-made island type square in the middle, for which one could swim towards and relax on. Since it was still early, the sun was a little less than half way in the sky and it touched the water at an angle that made it glisten like a million little sparkles.

"Wow, Sango, how did you find this place?" Miroku said in awe.

"I guess you could say, that it kind of found me," she smiled and started to take off her shoes and walk on the sand, feeling it between her toes.

"I stumbled upon it, literally, when I was jogging the path that we just took, and a rogue biker was coming down the opposite way. We both tried to swerve at the last second, when I fell through the opening we just came through. Ever since, it's been my haven away from the hectic world, to just forget for a while, and have some alone time to think."

"Yeah, it is pretty secluded," Miroku agreed, while stepping onto the still cold, and damp sand next to Sango, and putting his arm around the small of her back.

"Sango, Miroku! There you are!" Kagome exclaimed. She was being carried on Inuyasha's back piggyback style as they too, entered through the bush.

"You won Kagome?" Sango asked, surprised.

"Not really, by the time we heard you calling us back, I had passed her," Inuyasha protested.

"But I said that the last one _there_, would win, which would have made _me_ the first to pass it," Kagome clarified.

"Just a technicality," Inuyasha mocked.

"Well, now that we're all here, this is the surprise! Now we get to swim out to that flat out there and rest up a bit before we head back and get down to business," Sango said, while starting to pull of her shirt, revealing a one piece, halter style, burgundy swim suit.

Inuyasha and Miroku already had their trunks on that doubled as running shorts. Kagome had a similar style suit to Sango, but it was a deep forest green.

Sango put her hair up into a tighter ponytail and dove into the lake, leaving only a small splash behind to let anyone know that the lake had been disturbed at all. The other three soon followed, and Miroku, with no safe place to put his glasses, shrugged and dove in with them still on.

* * *

The gang lounged in and around the flat, and in the water until about noon. Sango was right, it did both relax them all physically and mentally. Unfortunately, the fun had to end at some point, and they headed back to Kagome's house for some eats and to get down to business.

Kagome and Inuyasha were assigned to lunch duty, while Miroku and Sango set up the necessary supplies to demonstrate labs and show diagrams of molecular geometry.

"Here we are! Nice peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for all! Plus grapes and watermelon to rejuvenate our energy," Kagome presented.

"PB&J?" Miroku asked, with raised eyebrows.

"That was the extent of my culinary work Miroku, so don't complain, and eat up! Anything tastes good when you're hungry!" Inuyasha remarked, and ate his sandwich in two swift bites. Luckily, he had three others to go, having made more for himself.

"Alright, let's get to it," Sango stated.

"First, we will go over liquids and solubility," Miroku started. "What is the universal solvent?"

"Milk?" Inuyasha asked, raising his glass of it before taking three huge gulps to wash down his last sandwich.

Sango sighed, "No Inuyasha, milk isn't even a pure substance. The answer is water. Kagome, do you know why that is?"

"Um, let me see, I know this one… erm, because it's all over the world?" she said, unsure.

"Close," Miroku agreed, and pointed a finger at her knowingly. "But that's only part of why it's universal. The other, is because most solids dissolve in it, or at least form a nice precipitate in it."

"Let's take the ion, sodium nitrate, or NaNO3. It is soluble in water, because the anion Sodium, and the cation Nitrate, both dissolve in water. Only one of them, the cation or the anion, need to dissolve in water for the solid to be soluble in the solvent," Sango explained.

Both Inuyasha and Kagome looked dizzy at Sango's extensive Chemistry vocabulary. Unfortunately, to be good in the class, you have to speak the lingo. While Sango explained, Miroku was demonstrating with an overly perky face, to make it seem like a breeze.

Solubility was then followed by titration of acids and bases, molarity and dilution, and formulas for a hydrate and their respective labs involving liquids.

At this point, they were starting to get the hang of the procedures, and they decided to take a break and watch a funny movie to get their spirits up. Kagome popped in _The Emperor's New Groove_ and sat. They all sat on the couch together, with the girls in the middle, and the guys on the outside. Laughter could be heard throughout the house, until they calmed down enough to compose themselves and start work again.

"Alright, the next order of business is gases, which I personally think is the hardest," Sango warned.

"Let's start with the ideal gas law: PVnRT. Can you tell me what those stand for Inuyasha?" Miroku asked.

"P is for Pressure, V is for Volume, n is for number of moles, T is temperature and R is… Resistance?"

Miroku made a buzzing noise, which had been recently indicating when Kagome or Inuyasha was wrong. "It is the gas constant, that works out the unit problems mostly," Miroku clarified.

"That's basically what you need to know for most gas problems. Also Dalton's Law of Partial Pressures, which states that the total pressure of a gas is equal to the individual pressure of the gases that make up that gas. This mostly applies to a gas that is over water, because water has it's own vapor mixed within it," Sango explained.

Thermochemistry and Heat Fusions then followed gases, and then the review of test taking was administered.

"Okay Kagome, what is the element that has an atomic number of 13?" Sango asked.

"Aluminum. And that means that it has 13 protons and electrons," Kagome answered promptly.

"Good. Inuyasha, which element has a larger ionic radius: Sulfur or Oxygen?" Miroku questioned.

"Sulfur does, because the periodic trend for ionic radius is that it increases as you go across and also as you go down," Inuyasha answered quickly.

"Great explaining you guys! Now Kagome, which intermolecular force is the strongest?" Sango was getting excited at how much they were retaining.

"Hydrogen bonding, which can only happen between Hydrogen and Nitrogen, Oxygen, or Fluorine," Kagome stated.

"The second strongest is dipole-dipole, which occurs in substances that have lone pairs of electron in their structure," Inuyasha added.

"And all substance have London dispersion forces," Kagome and Inuyasha said in unison.

"By George, I think they have it!" Miroku exclaimed.

Kagome and Inuyasha jumped in the air and gave each other a double high five. Miroku and Sango linked their arms around each other's shoulders and praised themselves for being good teachers, before they started cleaning up some of the lab equipment.

"Don't worry Miroku, Inuyasha and I will do that, just so we can go over the names and uses for the equipment together. You know we have to do a lab for the big exam too," Kagome reminded.

"Good idea you guys, Miroku and I will order some food. How's pizza sound? He and I will treat to celebrate your guys hard work!" Sango suggested.

"Sweet! Get the works, I'm starved!" Inuyasha exclaimed, helping Kagome put away some volumetric flasks.

Miroku followed Sango to the kitchen, where the phone was to order four separate boxes of pizza: pepperoni & sausage, vegetarian, meat lovers, and pineapple & ham. These were Sango, Miroku, Inuyasha, and Kagome's favorites, respectively.

Another movie was in order, but the girl's won the fight and chose a sappy romance: _Moulin Rouge_. Instead of all of them on the couch again, they were a little more spread about the room. Kagome was lying on the couch, crying her eyes out near the end and Inuyasha was nearby. He had his back to the couch, but was sitting on the floor, unusually reading more about Chemistry. But I guess even _he_ would rather do that than see a chick flick.

Sango was sideways on an armchair, her legs dangling off the side and her neck resting on one of the arm rests. Even though this was one of her Top 10 favorite movies, she was fast asleep before it got half way done. Tired from the physical exertion of exercising everyday like she did, and the mental exertion of putting up with Inuyasha and Kagome and teaching with Miroku, she didn't even have the will to change into pajamas. Miroku was on the same armchair, but sitting up right on the armrest that Sango's legs dangled from. He stayed awake the longest and was mostly running about and cleaning up pizza mess, so Kagome's mother wouldn't come home to a chaos of a house.

He always managed to return to his spot though, and in the end, he fell asleep there too. The movie was over, and everyone in the house was asleep. Sango and Kagome rested peacefully, and Inuyasha had let his head rest on the couch to fall asleep sitting. Miroku had fallen asleep in a more uncomfortable position, but minutes after he did fall asleep, he fell in the space between Sango and the back of the armchair. He was now in the same position as Sango, but sideways.

Kagome's mother came home at about midnight, to find them all sleeping quietly. "Isn't that the sweetest thing," she whispered to herself. Kagome's hand had reached out in her sleep to rest on Inuyasha's shoulder. Miroku's arms had crept around Sango, as if she were his comforting teddy bear. Though it was cozy, it didn't look like any of them seemed to mind.

* * *

_**

* * *

** _

**A/N:** _Hi out there! Sorry that it has been…what? At least 3 months since my last update, but I just haven't been getting things done on time lately. Unfortunately, fanfiction writing is not on the top of my priority list, and other things keep bumping it down, but I refuse to forget it completely, because it makes me happy. _

_This chapter was especially sentimental for me, because I used to go to a lake every summer, similar to the one described in this chapter, when I was little. It was called Clear Lake and was owned by the grandparents of my cousins. Also, all the information about Chemistry here is accurate, seeing as I took it directly from my own work in that class this year. Most of it just sounds confusing, but is really simple after a while._

_Did you enjoy the slight fluff at the end? I know this was mostly filler, but you know me, fluff! I noticed that my characters sure do sleep a lot in this fic… hmm… not really intended, but I love sleep!_

**Disclaimers:** I don't own The Emperor's New Groove or Moulin Rouge, although I have a copy of each on DVD. They are basically two of my favorite movies.

_Anyway, it doesn't seem right if I don't have a reason for updating. So, this is in celebration of both of my parents' birthdays. February 24 and 25. Isn't that cool? They are a day apart, even the same year. Although they don't know about my secret life of fanficiton writing, let alone reading, I like dedicating my updates to something. The real reason I updated, you ask? I have a lot more fans on animespiral, and have been getting unusual threats… but they still make me happy! I'm weird, and also easily pleased. _

_It doesn't mean that I don't love my reviewers here too! Here are the complementary author's notes to their previous reviews:_

I am Miroku- Well, well, well, what a charmer. Perceptive aren't we? I'm glad you liked it, being my favorite reviewer and all. When are you getting your stories up anyhow? I hope to hear from you soon. You rascal. LOL

Punk of Pryo- Thanks for the review. I know what you mean about parents though, I usually write my fanfics when no one else is around. Kind of like a secret life of mine.

DarkHeartKeyblade- I first heard the song in my Spanish class too! It's one of my favorites. Thanks for the review.

_**POLL!**_

This chapter took more time than usual, because this week I have been working on another story! Yay! It is about Miroku and Sango's daughter, Arashi, which means storm, and Inuyasha and Kagome's son, which I have yet to come up with a name for. That's where you come in! In review, please submit a vote to one of these choices:

1) Inuko (meaning: dog child, or child of Inuyasha)

2) Nagoyaka (meaning: gentle, plus it sounds like Inuyasha and Kagome's names put together, sorta)

3) Your opinion! The name needs to have a meaning with it, and sound cool.

Thanks!


End file.
